UZBEKISTAN: EXPECTING RUSSIA-GEORGIA DISCUSSION

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 001006 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/28/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR ASEC EAID GG RS UZ SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: EXPECTING RUSSIA-GEORGIA DISCUSSION DURING SCO SUMMIT REF: A. SECSTATE 91894 ¶B. TASHKENT 991 ¶C. TASHKENT 973 ¶D. TASHKENT 929 Classified By: Poloff Steven Prohaska for reasons 1.4 (b, d). ¶1. (C) On August 27, Charge d'Affaires met with First Deputy Foreign Minister Nematov and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Americas Department Chief Mamadjanov to deliver reftel A demarche urging the Government of Uzbekistan (GOU) to condemn and reject Russia's recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. Nematov thanked the Charge for the information, noting that this is a very delicate question, and the Government of Uzbekistan has not specifically determined its position on the issue. Uzbekistan is continuing to research the international legal aspects of the issue and is carefully studying the Russia-Georgia situation, Nematov stated. When asked what Russian officials have been telling MFA with regard to the situation, Nematov simply replied that Russia has not spoken to Uzbekistan about it since Moscow made the decision to recognize South Ossetian and Abkhazian independence. Nematov believed that the Russia-Georgia issue would come up during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on August 28 in Dushanbe, and refused to comment further on Uzbekistan's position. ¶2. (C) Comment: Uzbekistan has remained cautious in its official commentary on the Russia-Georgia situation, but will eventually have to make a choice on whether to recognize the independence of these Georgian regions. The issue appears to have surfaced during the recent talks that took place in Moscow between Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov and Uzbekistan's First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov. It is very likely that discussions of this topic will continue during today's SCO summit and Prime Minister Putin's meeting with President Karimov in early September. We intend to monitor Uzbekistan's stance on the Russia-Georgia situation closely. NORLAND